April 21, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Mount Holyoke Lacrosse Defeats Smith 15-14

Northampton, MA: In a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest that had eight ties, the Lyons of Mount Holyoke prevailed as they defeated the Pioneers of Smith 15-14. Senior Ava Gottschall (Amherst, MA) scored a game high 7 goals, five in the second half, including the game winner with 22 seconds left in the game.

The entire game see-sawed with neither team gaining more than a two goal advantage at any time.  Junior attack Carolyn Whiting (South Orange, NJ), who had a team high five goals for the Pioneers, led the team in the first half with four goals. First year Meaghan Fileti (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) tallied two for Smith in the first half while senior co-captain Blair Rapalyea (Prides Crossing, MA) scored the other two goals for the Pioneers.  Gottschall scored twice for the Lyons in the first half as did Clara Raugei (Alpharetta, GA) and Alex Crean (West Hartford, CT). Junior attack Miriam Blumenfeld (Berkeley, CA) and first year Hillary Bombard (Northampton, MA) each added a goal for the Lyons that saw the game tied at 8-8 at the half.

The teams exchanged goals in the second half but with 13:39 left, Fileti scored for Smith to give them a 13-11 lead. Gottschall tallied the next three goals of the game and gave the Lyons a 14-13 lead with 7:23 remaining.  Mount Holyoke's defense held Smith until the 1:32 mark when Whiting found the net to tie the game at 14, but Gottschall put in the game winner with 22 seconds left.

The Pioneers will host UMass-Dartmouth on Thursday at 5 pm while Mount Holyoke hosts Anna Marie at 7 pm on Friday.

Smith (3-10, 0-5)                     8               6               14
Mount Holyoke (4-10, 1-5)     8                7               15

Scoring:  Smith
Goals - Carolyn Whiting-5; Meaghan Fileti-4; Blair Rapalyea-4; Phoebe Hopkins -1
Assists: Mary Pasini, Carolyn Whiting, Sarah Knowles, Danielle Schmandt
Mount Holyoke
Goals -Ava Gottschall-7; Clara Raugei-3; Hilary Bombard-2, Alex Crean-2, Miriam Blumenfeld-1
Assists: Alex Crean, Ava Gottschall, Taylor Hedges

Goalkeepers:
Smith - Chelsea Henderson (60 mins), 15 GA, 15 saves
Mount Holyoke - Melissa Hartley (25:48 mins), 7 GA, 3 saves; Jeanmaire Peterson (34:12 mins), 7 GA, 8 saves